Is Mini Still The Market-leading Stylish Small Car?

The concept of city cars has been altered enormously over recent years as a result

of the growing popularity of the smart car that has made small cars smaller still. Many remain sceptical about these new tiny vehicles, but they have sold in large numbers despite their odd appearance. This has threatened the traditional role of the MINI Cooper as the market leading small car for the city.

The film the Italian Job immortalised Britain's most famous small car in the eyes of filmgoers around the world and was symbolic of urban chic in its early days throughout the sixties and seventies. At the time it was hard to imagine either a smaller car or a more successful city vehicle, but with vehicle technology changing and developing rapidly throughout the nineties and the new millennium, other brands have started to eat into the once accepted role of the Cooper as the leading city car for the streets of Britain.

Since being taken over by BMW, the MINI has undergone something of a facelift, receiving a full modernisation and a rounder, sleeker shape. Whether or not this is what customers were hankering for is up for debate, but there is no doubting that the new, updated edition of the popular vehicle has been something of a hit with sales having been steady. However, the BMW editions are larger than their predecessors and some have suggested that the brand has been stripped slightly of its lightweight manoeuvrability and compact style.

Lightweight is certainly a word that can be used to describe the microcars that smart (an automotive brand of German car corporation Daimler AG) have begun producing for the city car market. Their now infamous two-seater model, the Fortwo, is essentially half a car and as such offers unrivalled manoeuvrability for urban driving. However, such innovation has to come at some sort of a cost, and in the case of the smart car, it is the looks department where the vehicle falls short. Many people are put off by the small frame of the Fortwo, which can make it look vulnerable and not particularly secure, even if the opposite is true.

Appearances can be deceptive as MINI well know, and they still hold the advantage in terms of looks. While the new Cooper is bulkier than the previous models produced by the British Motor Corporation, it has retained a stylishness that few other small cars can't match. There is a kudos associated with a decked out Cooper that other city cars, which can sometimes be looked down on due to their relative inexpensiveness and lack of size, will never compete with.

by: Anna Stenning

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